Conway the Machine

Demond Price (born February 16, 1982), known professionally as Conway the Machine, or simply Conway,^[2] is an American rapper. Alongside his paternal half-brother, Westside Gunn, and cousin, Benny the Butcher, Conway was a member of Griselda Records. On February 21, 2022, Conway announced his departure from Griselda Records.^[3]

History

2012–2019: Early mixtapes and G.O.A.T.

Throughout his 20s, Conway was in and out of jail.^[4] During this time, he reflected on what he wanted out of life and began weaning from a gangster lifestyle to focus on his career in music.^[2]

In 2012, Conway was shot in the head, neck, and shoulder.^[5] Originally, doctors believed that he would be paralyzed from the neck down, however, today the only permanent injury is his face being partially paralyzed, giving him his signature slur.^[6]

In 2014, Westside Gunn founded Griselda Records, through which Conway and Westside Gunn would self-release their own projects and the works of artists such as Benny the Butcher and Mach-Hommy.^[7] In 2015, Conway released his first two official mixtape projects through Griselda Records, The Devil's Reject and Reject 2.^[8][9] Conway and Westside Gunn also released two collaborative EPs through London-based record label Daupe!,^[10] the first of which was 2015's Hall & Nash, followed by 2016's Griselda Ghost. In April 2016, during Mobb Deep and Smif-N-Wessun's "Hell On Earth" tour, Conway was introduced to Prodigy of Mobb Deep, who would become one of his earliest notable collaborators and supporters.^[2]

On March 3, 2017, Griselda Records signed a deal with Eminem's Shady Records.^[11][12] On October 10, 2017, Conway contributed an a cappella rap verse to the 2017 BET Hip Hop Awards Shady cypher.^[13] The same year, Complex included Westside Gunn and Conway in their list of "15 Best Unofficial Rap Duos in the Game",^[14] as well as two of the "17 Artists to Watch in 2017".^[15]

Following Griselda's deal with Shady Records, Conway's first official release was G.O.A.T. on December 21, 2017, which included production from Griselda's in-house producer Daringer and The Alchemist, and featured Royce Da 5'9", Raekwon, Prodigy, Styles P and Lloyd Banks.^[16] Earlier in 2017, he released a collaborative mixtape with DJ Green Lantern titled More Steroids.^[17]

2019–present: Studio albums

On May 16, 2019, Conway, Benny The Butcher and Westside Gunn released their first single with DJ Premier titled "Headlines".^[18]

Conway released "Bang", at the time expected to be the first single from his album God Don't Make Mistakes, alongside Eminem on July 19, 2019.^[19][20] God Don't Make Mistakes had been intended to be Conway's debut studio album, and Westside Gunn had stated it was "90 percent complete" in 2018;^[21] however, Conway's first studio album would instead be the project From King to a God, which he released on September 11, 2020.^[22] During this period, Conway continued releasing mixtapes and collaborative albums as well.

God Don't Make Mistakes was ultimately released on February 25, 2022, as Conway's second studio album.^[23] It was followed by his third studio album, Won't He Do It, released on May 5, 2023, being Conway's first studio album not released with Griselda.^[24]

Discography

Studio albums

Collaboration albums

• Organized Grime (released in collaboration with Trillmatic Goods) (2019)
• Lulu (with The Alchemist) (2020)
• No One Mourns the Wicked (with Big Ghost) (2020)
• If It Bleeds It Can Be Killed (with Big Ghost) (2021)
• Organized Grime 2 (released in collaboration with Trillmatic Goods) (2022)
• What Has Been Blessed Cannot Be Cursed (with Big Ghost) (2022)
• Pain Provided Profit (with Jae Skeese) (2023)
• Speshal Machinery (with 38 Spesh) (2023)^[28]
• Conductor Machine (with Conductor Williams) (2023)

Compilation albums

• Drumwork: The Album (with Drumwork Music Group) (2023)

Mixtapes

• Welcome 2 the Badside (2007)
• The Transition (2007)
• T2: The Machine (2008)
• The Worst of Conway (2010)
• Welcome Back (2 da Badside) (2010)
• Amerikan Greed (2012)
• PhysiKal Therapy (2014)
• The Devil's Reject (2015)
• Reject 2 (2015)
• G.O.A.T. (2017)
• Blakk Tape (2018)
• Everybody Is F.O.O.D (2018)
• EIF 2: Eat What U Kill (2018)
• Everybody Is F.O.O.D 3 (2019)
• Look What I Became (2019)
• La Maquina (2021)
• The Missing Bricks (2021)
• Greetings Earthlings (2022)

Collaboration mixtapes

• Who Wants What (with Street Entertainment) (2005)
• Bang Bang (with Street Entertainment) (2005)
• The Pre-Season (with Buff City Music Group) (2012)
• Hall & Nash (with Westside Gunn as Hall 'N Nash) (2015)
• Griselda Ghost (with Westside Gunn as Hall 'N Nash, produced by Big Ghost LTD) (2015)
• Hell Still On Earth (with Prodigy) (2016)
• Reject on Steroids (with DJ Green Lantern) (2017)
• More Steroids (with DJ Green Lantern) (2017)
• Death By Misadventure (with Sonnyjim) (2018)
• Untitled Drums EP (with Imported Goods) (2018)
• Hidden Drums (with Drumwork Music Group) (2023)
• Conductor Machine (with Conductor Williams) (2023)
• PALERMO (with Wun Two) (2023)
• Hall & Nash 2: The Original Version (with Westside Gunn & The Alchemist) (2023)

With Griselda

• Don't Get Scared Now (2016)
• WWCD (2019)

Music videos

References

This page was last edited on 19 February 2024, at 16:17